Saskatchewan remains Conservative stronghold, Liberals to form minority government

Saskatchewan remained blue after Monday’s federal election, but Justin Trudeau and the Liberals will once again form government.

Heading into the election, all 14 federal ridings in the province were Conservative blue.

As results came in Monday, that remained the case for nearly all of the ridings. The riding of Saskatoon-West was a battle between the NDP’s Robert Doucette and incumbent Brad Redekopp.

With 85 per cent of polls reporting, Redekopp was ahead with 43 per cent of the vote, while Doucette had 40 per cent.

Michael Kram, the incumbent Conservative MP for Regina-Wascana, had one question to ask about the election.

“What was the point of this election? If the point was to get Justin Trudeau his majority, well, that didn’t work out the way Justin Trudeau had planned it when he called this election last month,” Kram told reporters in Regina.

“If the purpose of this election was to waste five weeks of our lives and make us all $600 million poorer, then I would have to say ‘Mission accomplished.’ It’s unfortunate that we are right back where we started five weeks ago.”

Kram said politicians’ time could have been better used focusing on the pandemic or Afghanistan or many other issues.

“Justin Trudeau called an unsafe, unnecessary election because of his own personal ambition to achieve a majority. We deprived him of that,” Kram said. “It will be interesting to see how Mr. Trudeau fares when he deals with his own caucus after this result which, by his own standards, is a failure.

“While I know we had all hoped for a better national result, as far as I’m concerned, keeping Trudeau’s hunger for absolute power in check is a victory tonight.”

In Regina, former Saskatchewan Party MLA Warren Steinley faced a battle against the NDP’s Tria Donaldson, a local activist and labour organizer. Steinley was ahead with 48 per cent of the vote with 201 of the 216 polls reporting.

While she lost in the Regina-Lewvan riding, Susan Cameron says she ran for the Liberals because Regina needed a voice in Ottawa.

“Having this election was a chance for Regina-Lewvan to choose that or not. Was it worth it for Regina-Lewvan to do it? Absolutely,” Cameron said.

She said while she was out campaigning, the Liberal platform resonated with a lot of people even though the riding remained blue.

“Building a stronger Canada for everyone (and moving) forward for everyone. I did hear that that resonated for folks,” Cameron said. “In some cases, people were a little afraid to say that too loudly.”

Donaldson, who says she is not conceding until the mail-in ballots are counted, thought this election found Canada find itself right where it started.

“A lot of people questioned why we were having an election right now and for the results to come up to a similar thing (as they were entering the election), I think Trudeau is probably shaking his head. I think there’s going to be a lot of questions for him,” Donaldson said.

Kram, Steinley and Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle) retained their seats in Regina, with Kevin Waugh (Saskatoon-Grasswood) and Corey Tochor (Saskatoon-University) doing the same in Saskatoon.

The northern riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River remained blue as incumbent Gary Vidal held off a challenge from notable Saskatchewan politician Buckley Belanger.

Belanger had been a provincial MLA since 1995, first as a Liberal and then as a member of the NDP since 1998 on.

Vidal won the seat from the NDP in 2019. He was ahead with 50 per cent of the vote with 140 of 156 polls reporting.

Former Moose Jaw Mayor Fraser Tolmie looked to be victor in the Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan riding. He had 61 per cent (22,917 votes) with 182 of 201 polls reporting.

Around the province, many of the incumbents saw voters send them back to Ottawa.

In Battlefords-Lloydminster, Rosemarie Falk got 20,697 (69 per cent) votes with 136 of 137 polls reporting.

Kelly Block was on her way to victory from Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek, with 68 per cent of the vote with 180 of 192 polls reporting.

Cypress Hills-Grasslands incumbent Jeremy Patzer had 72 per cent of the vote with 173 of 182 polls reporting.

Randy Hoback looked to once again head back to Ottawa as a Conservative MP from the Prince Albert riding. Hoback had 64 per cent of the vote with 173 of 198 polls reporting.

In Souris-Moose Mountain, Robert Kitchen had 76 per cent of the vote with 205 out of 216 polls in.

Cathay Wagantall had 69 per cent of the vote in the Yorkton-Melville riding with 191 of 196 polls reporting.

Nationally, the Liberals were elected or leading in 158 ridings, followed by the Conservatives (119), the Bloc Quebecois (34), the NDP (25) and the Green Party (two).